Thursday, June 10, 2010

A highlight of The Kenyan Budget - 2010/2011

Kenya Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta has presented the Sh977bn Budget in Parliament that has seen increased funding to projects at the grassroots with the Education, Energy, Agriculture and Roads Ministries the major beneficiaries.Below are excerpts of Mr Kenyatta's Budget speech in Parliament.

16: 45 Speaker Marende adjourns the House to June 15 and invites MPs to a luncheon hosted by Treasury.

16:42 Mr Kenyatta concludes his Budget Speech.

16:40 Amend law to allow pensioners to access their savings within 30 days down from the current 60 days.

16:13 Received Sh40.4bn in pledges from external sources, including donors.

16:11 Mr Kenyatta says development expenditure for 2010/2011 is Sh321bn, out of which Sh96bn will be financed by appropriations aid.

16:09 Implementation of last Budget affected by many factors, including prolonged drought and total revenues fell by Sh500m.

16:06 He says the government will adopt leasing and mortgage as a platform to accessing cheap housing.

16:02 Mr Kenyatta says government will take bold steps to but Kenya products to build the country.

15:58 Allocates Sh3.8bn to a revolving fund charged with extending credit facilities to 8.2m Kenyans engaged in the informal sector through SMEs.

15:55 He allocates Sh560m to upgrade all 14 science and technology colleges countrywide.

15:51 Mr Kenyatta allocates Sh1bn to initiate expansion of training institutions towards equipping youth with skills to get employment, grow SMEs. Measures will include reducing days required to start a business, get a business permit, among others.

15:49 He says that youth unemployment remains a major challenge for the government and says the key to a prosperous Kenya lies with the youth

15:46 Mr Kenyatta says the government has developed strategies to deal with climate change and allocates Sh1.5bn to ensuring conservation efforts are strengthened.

15:43 Sh250m for construction of an additional 10 slaughter houses to boost the beef industry.

15:21 Purchase of 300 computers in each constituency to ensure that they embrace ICT.

15:20 Mr Kenyatta says education is a key pillar to economic development for any country and allocates Sh9.2bn towards Free Primary Education and Sh16bn towards Free Secondary Education.

15:19 Sh1.9bn to upgrade commuter transport in the capital.

15:17 Operational efficiencies have undermined doing business especially at the port of Mombasa says the Finance minister. Government will fast track construction of a standard gauge railway at the coastal town.

15:15 Sh31.5bn to fund expansion in the energy sector, which include 5bn to fund rural electrification.

15:14 On energy, Mr Kenyatta says government will expand resources to acquire cheaper energy. ERC will review electricity tariffs with a view of making cost of power predictable.

15:12 Sh4.2bn to open up Kisumu as one of Kenya's Vision 2030 towns.

15:10 Sh17.86bn allocated to improve Kenya's road network.15:07 Government has prioritised security projects to attract investments into the country. Mr Kenyatta says confident Kenyans will see fruits of investments soon

15:05 Severe penalties imposed on businesses involved in fraud.

15:04 He says Treasury will push for enactment of various bills, including Partnership Bill, to improve the business climate in the country.

Budget estimates for the 2010/2011 financial year released on Wednesday show the government will spend Sh110 billion above last year’s Sh867 billion, representing an increase of 12.5 per cent. This puts pressure to raise more revenues from either borrowing, selling its stakes in businesses and, most probably, increasing taxes.

According to the documents, Sh675 billion will go into recurrent expenditure, up Sh68 billion from the previous year, mainly to pay salaries for government workers. At a time when economic recovery has slowed down, growing only 2.6 per cent in 2009 even as the budget kisses the one-trillion-shilling mark, the government will come under critical focus over its spending priorities.